Even though I’ve been a long time user of an iPod (my first had a click wheel, with a monochrome screen), I didn’t run out and get an iPhone. Oh, I was tempted, but there were a few reasons why I didn’t. One is just the basic rule of new gadgets; you never buy first generation stuff, no matter how cool it looks. Wait for a bit, and let them iron out the kinks and add new features that were missing the first time around. Plus the price usually comes down some as a side effect.

The big, major reason was the exclusivity of the iPhone with AT&T. It’s not that I don’t like their coverage or their pricing. It’s because they are evil. “Cooperating with the Bush administration with warrantless wiretapping, building a secret room for the NSA, and conducting major privacy violations” evil.

Last month though, a seed was planted. Joel Johnson over at BoingBoing made a compromise.

When I bought my first iPhone a year ago, I made a donation to the Electronic Frontier Foundation as a sort of sin tax. An indulgence for an indulgence. An attempt to counteract giving money to a company that has colluded illegally with the U.S. government to spy on its own citizens, has plans to try to filter the entire internet for copyright violations, and has generally shown itself to be an enemy to personal liberty and privacy.

…

I’m mentioning it as a challenge to other AT&T subscribers. If you can afford it, please consider making some sort of donation to the EFF. Even a one-time donation will help bolster an organization that has a long history of fighting for our rights online against attacks from profit-addled interests. By giving companies like AT&T our money we’re funding in part a fight against ourselves; a donation to the EFF tips the odds back towards even.

I kept thinking about that. Sure it would be hypocritical of me, on the one hand bashing AT&T but also using their service. But I kept coming back to it. T-Mobile is my current cell phone provider, but that doesn’t mean I can’t avoid AT&T entirely (or that they’re any less evil). All but one person among my friends & family use AT&T. Work cell phones are AT&T. My internet at home is Cox, but just like phones can, I’m sure they use the same lines, or buy bandwidth from AT&T. So I’d still be subject to wiretapping no matter what (it’s been said that all telcos but Quest participated in warrantless wiretapping anyway, and now that FISA passed and is law, it’s not even illegal now).

The last reason I haven’t got an iPhone yet may be lifted. Storage space. I currently have a 30GB iPod video, and use about 20GB currently. There’s a rumor that a 32GB iPhone will be out soon, possibly before Xmas. I’d then be able to have just one device in my purse instead of two. Plus the OH LOOK SHINY aspect of an iPhone.

If a 32GB version does come out soon…well, I may be throwing my morals out the door. I know, very disappointing. But to counter that, I will be making a monthly donation to EFF. They still have legal cases against both the NSA and AT&T, and I want them to win. I want them to make AT&T and all the other telcos change how they do business with the government with regards to wiretapping, and to make them protect our privacy. I don’t want to give up civil liberties for the illusion of privacy. We’ve had to do that enough over the past 8+ years.

Technorati tags: eff, iphone, att